That was the finding of a survey of almost 200 bosses who said they expected to create between 2,800 and 3,700 new jobs – in addition to the 800 or so projected from Scarborough Business Park and other new developments.

The survey, commissioned by Scarborough Council, found there were high levels of "poaching" between firms, a lack of quality applicants for a wide range of jobs and frustration with mainstream recruitment methods.

Employers said they had trouble attracting people from outside the town to skilled and managerial roles, and there was a lack of willingness among locals to take on less skilled roles, such as care work and hotel jobs.

The report said: "There are major problems associated with some low-wage occupations in Scarborough and a willingness to move for minor improvements in terms and conditions.

"Among the highly skilled occupataions with shortages of skilled people there are significant levels of poaching between firms."

It said economic migrants were playing a "key role" in certain sectors and were very positively viewed by their employers, while most bosses were "generally negative" about people who had been out of work for some time.

Those responding to the survey said there was a need for greater co-ordination of strategy, funding and delivery in the employment and skills support system, with many employers confused about the different agencies and programmes involved.

The report by consultants Shared Intelligence concluded: "Higher level skills deficits in Scarborough are a major contributor to current levels of worklessness and recruitment difficulties and will, unless tackled, provide the major barrier to long-term economic transformation and diversification.

"Partners in Scarborough need to immediately assess and address the factors causing underperformance in this regard and look to establish arrangements which better develop the existing workforce and ensure that young people aspire to gain high level skills and utilise them within the Scarborough economy."

The authors suggest developing a strong and attractive Scarborough "brand" to help attract and retain skilled workers, embarking on an ambitious programme of public service improvement within education and skills establishments, improving partnership working and addressing outflows of young people.

As its own contribution, Scarborough Council is working towards creating a Modern Apprenticeship programme and has set up a task group to look at youth employment.

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